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San Francisco, 6:40 PM
Fri Jan 1
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Theories on Why Our Bigger Brained Predecessors Vanished
Wait. We're not the smartest of them all? Turns out there was a hominid species before us with a brain a quarter larger than our own. So why isn't anyone talking about it? More »Female Ducks Have Evolved A Vagina Dentata
Chimps Demonstrate Sophisticated Understanding Of Fire
The line between human and monkey has been crossed again - this time by chimps. Based on new research, scientists say chimps understand how fire will behave, and move to avoid it "expertly" in the wild. More »Vanished Precambrian Life Forms Were Like Nothing Before or Since
For a brief span of time, about 542 million years ago, the world belonged to the Ediacarans, a group of life forms so physiologically unique that biologists have considered giving them their own taxonomic kingdom. More »Ten Science Stories That Changed Our Decade
There is no doubt that science has become more like science fiction in the past decade, with amazing innovations and discoveries that increased our understanding of the universe. We list ten of the biggest science stories from the past decade. More »The Evolutionary Cost of Being Extremely Sexy
Charting the Possible Evolution of Same-Sex Liaisons
Same-sex sexual behavior has evolved multiple times in various animals, including mammals, birds, fish, and even insects. Researchers are increasingly finding that the reasons such behaviors evolved are as varied as the animals themselves. More »Why Aggressive Men Finish Last
Why Do Humans Kiss? To Share Our Germs
It doesn't matter how many times you got the cootie shot on the playground; when you kiss another person, you're going mouth-to-mouth with their germs. And according to researchers, those kissing germs are extremely important to human reproduction. More »During the Ice Ages, An Arctic Paradise Bloomed
This incredible map shows "Beringa," a region that existed millions of years ago during the Ice Ages. What it reveals is that, oddly, far northern regions like the Yukon and Siberia were hotbeds of ice-free life. More »In France, Brown Bears Desperately Need Women
The brown bear population has been declining in parts of France for decades, but now a group of scientists say they have an unorthodox solution. Just bring in more female bears. But not for the reasons you might think. More »"Dead Zone" Microbes Survive Without Oxygen - And Could Live In Space
Researchers have mapped the genome of a microbe that thrives in oxygen-deprived areas of the ocean known as "dead zones." These creatures are increasing, and their ability to live without oxygen might make them perfect space-dwellers. More »Scientists Discover the Largest Orbweaving Spider in the World
Yesterday researchers announced the discovery of the largest web-spinning spider in the world. Nephila komaci, which spins meter-wide webs, is 40 mm long. But males of the species (pictured clinging to the underside of the female) are only 9 mm. More »America's Next Top Model Will Be Shorter, Rounder
Sorry, fashion industry: The shape of things to come for women will be shorter and plumper, and it's all thanks to natural selection. Or, at least, that's what some scientists are claiming. More »Evolution Has Made Us Worse, Claims Anthropologist
Modern man is slower, weaker and just generally worse off than his ancestors, according to Australian athropologist Peter McAllister, whose book Manthropology: The Science of The Inadequate Modern Male argues that evolution has really let us down. More »Chimpanzees Are Altruistic - But Only If You Ask Nicely
Chimps may be one of our closest relatives, but they've shown a remarkably different approach altruism: They'll lend each other a hand, but need to be asked. More »New Fossil Discovery is the Closest We've Come to the Missing Link
Meet T-Rex's Diminutive Ancestor
In the days before Tyrannosaurus Rex roamed the Earth, prehistoric animals lived in fear of its ancestor, the Raptorex. But this petit progenitor of the Tyrannosauri would have been a mere mouthful for the mighty T-Rex. More »"Death Stench" Is Universal Among Animals And Insects
Insects avoid their dead instinctively, repelled by a "death stench." Now scientists have discovered that nearly all animals emit the same stench when they die, and have been for over 400 million years. More »The Cradle Of Human Life May Not Be Where You Thought
Is everything we know about the evolution and history of humanity wrong? Scientists have discovered ancient human skulls that suggest that we might've been wrong about the birthplace of modern humans all along. More »Burning Man's Evolutionary Mutant Vehicles
At Burning Man, the annual arts festival, mutant vehicles plod across Nevada's Black Rock Desert. And this year's art cars include a fully-functional spider walker, a remote-controlled trilobite, and a mobile mammoth skeleton. More »